Army tests technology supporting mobile troops

By Defense Systems Staff

Jul 25, 2013

A joint exercise dubbed Enterprise Challenge 13 was designed for the Defense Department and international partners to demonstrate new technologies for net-enabled ground forces. Over the next week, the U.S. Army is using the exercise to showcase its Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS-A) while testing multiple network technologies at Fort Huachuca, Ariz.

The Army said its goal during EC13 is demonstrating the ability of DCGS-A to correctly display, broadcast and share data with mobile partners via a joint coalition network while introducing new military intelligence capabilities.

DCGS-A is the Army’s intelligence component for mission command that connects soldiers to joint surveillance and reconnaissance data posting, processing and sharing. The system is used when tactical operation centers are mobile or when soldiers are on the edge of their networks.

DCGS-A was approved for full deployment across the Army in late December 2012, replacing nine different legacy systems. It is a key component of the Army’s modernization program.

On July 24, the Army demonstrated DCGS-A interoperability with tactical glasses at night using a low light display. This exercise is designed to show that DCGS-A can share full-motion video between Air Force assets, including the Global Hawk reconnaissance drone, directly to the Army’s tactical ground station and mobile soldiers at the edge of the network.

The Army estimates that DCGS-A could save as much as $300 million through fiscal 2017 and an estimated $1.2 billion during the system’s lifetime through fiscal 2034.